Jesus, show me why I need to pray and ask God to not lead me into temptation. Let the Bible make it clear to me in James 1:13-14 (NIV) that when I am tempted, I should not say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but I am tempted when, by my own evil desire, I am dragged away and enticed.

Jesus, teach me that there are two ways for me to learn life-lessons from God. The best way is for me to give God permission to teach me the things I need to know and empower me to use them. Show me that this is done by me praying and asking Him to lead me not into temptation. Then all I have to do is look for the way out; and, I will escape. Teach me that there is no temptation that has seized me except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear. But WHEN I am tempted, He will also provide a way out so that I can stand up under it (1 Cor 10:13). Empower me to look for, find, and take that way out.

Jesus, I am pretty hard-headed; sometimes I have to learn some things the hard way. And, since I have a God-given free will, God will allow me to yield to Satan’s temptation and get damaged in the process. Teach me that it isn’t a sin to be tempted; I sin when I YIELD to the temptation. Help me understand that I sin when I don’t pray for the power to LOOK for the way out, pray for the power to SEE the way out, pray for the power to TAKE the way out, and then USE that power to go through the way out. Show me that praying, lead me not into temptation won’t work unless I constantly LOOK, SEE, TAKE, AND USE the power to go through the way out. Empower me to practice this on a moment-by-moment and issue-by-issue basis so that I always take advantage of every way out.

Jesus, make it clear to me that God doesn’t want me to learn things the hard way; give me a teachable attitude (poor in spirit: Matthew 5:3) so He can just tell me things and me trust Him. Help me take His new training information and start praying and asking for the power to be able to get it into my life. Help me stop being one of those who just can’t learn certain things the easy way. So, Jesus, teach me what happens to me as a Christian who sins against the wonderful guidance of my heavenly Father.

Since I have ALREADY gone into temptation by yielding to it, it seems like it is too late for me to pray to not be led into it. My big question is, now that I am already involved in yielding to Satan’s temptation, how am I going to get out? I now confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that I have already asked for and have received God’s forgiveness when I prayed: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” BUT, now I need God’s power to get out of this situation and His power to never get in this kind of situation ever again. So, help me look at how to get out; then help me look at how to stay out.

Jesus, if I claim to be without sin, I DECEIVE myself and the truth is not in me (1 John 1:8). First, help me admit I made mistakes. Help me not try to justify them, explain them away, forgive myself, get my friends to help me feel better about them, or ignore them. Teach me that if I do, I deceive myself and the truth is not in me; I will lose my perfect record with God. Empower me to allow the Holy Spirit to point out what I did wrong and allow Him to make me feel bad about them.

Jesus, teach me that if I confess my sins, He (God) is faithful and just and WILL forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Help me lay out what my mistakes are and what kind of results they brought into my life. Teach me that I can’t just admit I did “something” wrong; I have to confess my sins. Help me admit each and every thing I did wrong. Empower me to bring up every sin, one at a time, and tell God I am sorry I sinned THAT SIN against myself, other people, and Him. Help me stop right here and list them all out and repent of them.

Jesus, if I claim I have not sinned, I make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in my life (1 John 1:10). Help me admit I am not the one who decides what truth is. Show me that I took what the Bible was telling me, what the Holy Spirit was telling my conscience, and what some of my Christian friends warned me about and rejected them as being LIES. Then I decided to go with my own “truth.” I decided I knew what was best for me and accepted it as truth. I now admit that I rejected the truths of God’s directions and replaced them with the LIE of my own opinions; forgive me for doing that.

Jesus, teach me that 1 John 1:8-10 is TRYING to get my relationship with God repaired. Help me see that when I go my own way by justifying myself, explaining my sins away, forgiving myself, getting my friends to help me feel better about them, or ignoring them, I damage my relationship with God. Make it clear to me that He still loves me, is still my heavenly Father, and is still giving me all the rights and privileges of being His child, provided that I listen to 1 John 1:8-10 and stop doing what 1 John 1:8 and 10 say; and, I start doing what 1 John 1:9 says. Use these verses to GET ME OUT of this sin situation.

Jesus, help me be one of those who is exposed to 1 John 1:8-10 and repent. Show me that, that is the way to maintain my perfect record with God. Help me NOT be one of those who is exposed to it and refuses to repent. Show me that if I do, I will lose my perfect record. I will stop understanding the Bible, I will stop being a child of God and a citizen of His Kingdom, I will stop having direct access to God, and I will stop being considered perfect by God. I will deceive myself and the truth is not in me. I make God out to be a liar and His word has no place in my life. I would be a person who refuses to GET OUT of a sin situation.

Jesus, help me look at how to STAY OUT of a sin situation. I now pray that from now on I will ALWAYS do what God is directing me to do. I ask You to keep me from learning the hard way; I ask You to make me able to not resist the guidance of the Bible, not resist the Holy Spirit speaking to my conscience, and not resist Christian friend’s warnings. I ask You to make me be able to follow the leadership that You are giving me, as You talk to me through the Bible, through my conscience, through my thoughts and feelings, and through other Christians. Empower me to STAY OUT of sin situations. Help me believe that this comes through prayer.

Jesus, when the Bible and You warn me about something, help me to immediately go to The Lord’s Prayer. Teach me that through it I will be able to pray those things that will EMPOWER me to resist temptation; it will EMPOWER me to be able to yield to God’s power.

Jesus, I am ready to start being set free from yielding to these and other temptations to hurt myself, those around me, and God’s plan. I now pray this portion of this prayer and say: “Lead us not into temptation.”